Jeff Curto discusses the interactive relationship that painting and photography have had for 170 years. He looks at how painting influenced photography and vice-versa, and how what photographs “look like” influence our understanding of what they are.

Jeff Curto discusses one of the most influential photographers and promoters of photography of the 20th century, Alfred Stieglitz. He examines why what Stieglitz did and what he said were often two different things, as well as the group of photographers and other artists he gathered around him.

Jeff Curto takes a conceptual approach to the history of photography, looking at 19th, 20th, and some 21st century portraits to discuss what makes a good portrait photograph. He also attempts to draw parallels with the words and ideas of the Transcendentalist thinkers and writers Emerson and Thoreau.